Negligence

A science teacher forgets to remind her students to wear their safety goggles during a chemistry experiment and one student is injured when the caustic chemical he is working with splashes into his eyes. A teacher is late for recess duty and a student falls from the swings and is injured. A principal sends one teacher and one student teacher on a field trip with sixty-five students to the seashore when two students slip away and drown. Are these educators liable for the injuries and the deaths of these students? Principals must know the law of negligence and apply its theory in order to successfully lead today's schools. Negligence: What Principals Need to Know About Avoiding Liability provides case studies, legal analyses, and practical applications that will help principals achieve effective leadership. This book an excellent primer on the tort of negligence and what steps can be taken to reduce injuries and avoid liability. Written in a readable format, it is a must-read for experienced, beginning, and aspiring principals.

“The book is written in language that is as clear as it is informative. It provides building level school leaders with a solid foundation upon which to base policies that lead to safer schools with a minimum of tort claims based on negligence. Further, the interested reader could certainly use the information from this book as a starting point for further studies in the area of tort liability. Given those two accomplishments, DeMitchell is to be commended for this valuable contribution to the field.”

Thank you, Todd A. DeMitchell, for writing this book! Both new and veteran principals will benefit from all the information you provide. I particularly like the extensive use of case studies and the tools for examining our own practices and procedures. This book is chock-full of materials that can prompt self-reflection in both administrator and teacher meetings. This is a must-read for any principal. -- Pamela Miller, Ph.D., principal, Hawthorne Brook Middle School, North Middlesex Regional School District, Townsend, Massachusetts
Education Law Reporter
Negligence: What Principals Need to Know About Avoiding Liability makes tort liability come alive. Education practitioners will find considerable benefit from the author's discussion of legal concepts and the guidelines for good practice. The use of case studies—one of the most efficient and effective methods for teaching legal principles— is shown maximum advantage in this book. The author has admirably constructed the book to be both a valuable legal resource and a ready practical guide for school principals. Those persons interested in further study will be gratified to find copious footnote references to law cases, law articles, and education law texts. -- Ralph D. Mawdsley, J.D., Ph.D., professor of school law, Cleveland State University, and past president of the Education Law Association

Todd DeMitchell spent eighteen years in the public schools holding positions from substitute teacher to superintendent, including principal of a K-8 school. Currently, he is a professor in the Department of Education and the Justice Studies Program at the University of New Hampshire, where he specializes in school law, collective bargaining, and educational policy.

Reasonable and prudent principals must know the law of negligence and apply its theory to the crush of activities and expectations of leading a modern school. In most schools, the in-house legal expert is the principal. This book assists, through case studies, legal analysis, and practical applications, principals to be the legal leader of their school.

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